Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood: One Last Time

So I played one more mission, and then decided to just pack it in. How this got a reputation as a competent shooter, and why anyone had any positive expectations for The Cartel, is hard to figure. I suppose it’s possible that the story of three brothers got to the like of Justin McElroy. But I’ve got brothers of my own, and the story did nothing for me. Anyways, I took some more notes. Enjoy!

Miscellaneous Links!

We open with an article describing one of the most bizarre scientific lectures ever. “[The professor] stepped around the podium, and pulled his loose pants tight up around his genitalia in an attempt to demonstrate his erection.” (via BoingBoing)

Lots and lots of cute animal pictures (32, to be exact). Because what else is the internet for?

In the spirit of the bicycle link from a couple weeks ago, we have a delightful Kate Beaton cartoon playing off satirical depictions of female cyclists from the early ago of cycling. Like this one that she links to.

Another follow-up: the story behind the My Little Pony correction in the New York Times.

On the connections between Mormonism and geek culture.

The Joy Division Mickey Mouse shirt. It has since been removed from the Disney store.

A helpful guide to understanding introverts (like me). (via Justin McElroy’s twitter)

And lastly, via Susan Arendt’s twitter, a surreal, goofy little song:

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood 2

Played another 90 minutes or so. Still don’t like it very much, but to some extent I think it’s because I’m being hyper-critical since I got off on the wrong foot with the game. Anyways, I took some notes while I was playing, and here they are:

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood: Early Impressions

So this is a really premature judgement on my part. I’ve only played the game for an hour or so, entirely on the first level, but it did not make a good first impression.

Bastion

I love Bastion. What an absolutely magical, generous game. The folks at Supergiant really outdid themselves. I had expected was something in the Braid model, a quirky indie game built around the premise of exploring one or two core ideas. And while the narrator is certainly a stand-out element of the game, it’s only a part of what makes the game amazing.

Miscellaneous Links! Sad and Bizarre Edition

It’s that time again.

We begin with a couple of Mitt Romney-related links, seeing as he’s presumably going to be the Republican nominee. It turns out that his tax plan is “Very progressive, by 15th-century standards“. Also, his haircut “will not be denied” its victory this election cycle.

Two funny twitter feeds: one sad, one bizarre.

Via Susan Arendt, we have a sad forum thread from a disturbing corner of the internet: WTF is with empowered women in video games now?

Loading Ready Run’s Feed Dump from last week was a particularly good one.

The trailer for Wes Anderson’s new movie, Moonrise Kingdom, is so Wes Anderson-y that it almost feels like parody.

I’m a big fan of Day 9 and his Starcraft commentary. The first 10 minutes of this video illustrate exactly why. He truly is part-man, part-bicycle.

And lastly, via Andrew Sullivan, a delightful dramatic reading of a (sadly fictitious) bizarre, garbled-by-translation Madonna interview:

Batman: Arkham City

I know I’m in the minority, but as I laid out in my last entry, I did not particularly care for Arkham Asylum. It was well-crafted, but it failed to engage me. So I did not have high hopes for Arkham City, the sequel. But it turns out I was in for a surprise. I enjoyed it a lot. So much so that I blew through it in only a few days, without even meaning to.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

[I played Arkham Asylum back not too long after it came out, and I wrote this entry, but never published it. It's certainly not my best work, but now I'm playing Arkham City, the sequel, so I feel it's important to get my perspective on the first game out there.]

Certainly this is an exceptionally well crafted and technically accomplished game. That said, I’ve pretty much been having just barely enough fun and little enough frustration for me to keep playing it. The first and third Scarecrow bits were neat, I’ll grant. But the actual gameplay does almost nothing for me. It’s such a stiflingly linear, guided experience. The base combat system is good, but all the extension of it feel so artificial and game-y – These guys you can’t counter, and must stun; These guys you can’t hit, and must dodge; Here are some cool moves you can do, but only when your combo meter is high enough.

Miscellaneous Links

I’m still catching up with archives, so a few of these links are old, but they’re still good.

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume

I’ve had a troubled history with Japanese strategy RPGs, but I finally one that I liked. Valkyrie Profile is not the deepest game, mechanically. There’s not a lot of loot or character progression decisions. But the story was dark and fast-moving, and there are a couple of interlocking systems in it that really grabbed by attention.